The best trades for getting on the mines

Which trades mine sites actually hire

A mine is basically a giant maintenance job. Trucks, diggers and drills have to keep moving, and the processing plant has to keep running. That means most trade jobs on site are maintenance trades, not construction trades.

Jobs and Skills Australia's mining industry profile puts Metal Fitters and Machinists as the second largest occupation in mining, behind drillers, miners and shot firers. Electricians come in fourth, and Structural Steel and Welding Trades Workers make the top 10 (ABS Labour Force Survey, 2025 four-quarter average). Mining employed around 314,500 people as at February 2026, mostly in WA and Queensland and mostly in regional or remote areas.

The 2026 Occupation Shortage List, released in October 2026, rated 27% of the 1,021 assessed occupations as in national shortage. For Technicians and Trades Workers it was 48%, the highest of any group. Keep in mind the list is national. It tells you employers across all industries struggle to fill these trades, not that every mine is hiring this month.

• •Rated in shortage every year from 2021 to 2026: Diesel Motor Mechanic (Diesel Technician on the new OSCA basis), Fitter (General), Fitter and Turner, Fitter-Welder, Electrician (General), Automotive Electrician, Metal Fabricator, Welder (First Class), Electrical Linesworker, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Mechanic, Plumber (General).
• •Rated in shortage in 2025 and 2026: Electronic Instrument Trades Worker (General). The Special Class version has been in shortage every year since 2022.
• •Moved to no shortage in 2026: Electrician (Special Class) and Pressure Welder. Construction Rigger has been rated no shortage since 2024, while Scaffolder has been in shortage every year since 2022.

Heavy duty diesel fitter (mobile plant): AUR31220

This is the trade most people picture when they think mining apprenticeship. You work on haul trucks, excavators, dozers, loaders, graders, water carts and drill rigs. The qualification is the AUR31220 Certificate III in Mobile Plant Technology, done through a training contract, usually in the Mobile Plant Equipment specialisation. Some people come in through the AUR31120 Certificate III in Heavy Commercial Vehicle Mechanical Technology (trucks and buses) and move across later.

On site you split your time between the workshop and the field. Workshop work is scheduled services, component change-outs and rebuilds. Field work is breakdowns in the pit, often from a service truck, in the heat or the wet, on day or night shift. Hydraulics, engines, drivetrains and brakes are the bread and butter.

You get hired by the miner itself, by maintenance contractors, or by OEM dealers that sell and service the gear (Cat, Komatsu, Liebherr and Hitachi dealers all run service networks). Dealer apprentices often start in a branch workshop in town and get sent to site. Check each company's careers page for current intakes.

The honest downside: it is heavy, dirty work and the shifts are long. The upside is that you learn big gear fast, and the skills carry over to civil construction, quarries, agriculture and transport.

Mechanical fitter (fixed plant): MEM30219

Fixed plant is everything that does not drive around: crushers, screens, conveyors, mills, pumps, pipework, gearboxes and the processing plant that turns rock into product. On iron ore and coal operations it can also include rail and port equipment. The qualification is the MEM30219 Certificate III in Engineering - Mechanical Trade, which has a Fitting specialisation and must be done through a training contract or formal trade recognition.

Day to day you are doing planned maintenance, alignments, bearing and belt changes, and fault finding. The big money and the big hours come from shutdowns, where a plant is stopped for days and crews work around the clock to get it back online. Contractors hire lots of fitters for shutdown work.

If you like the idea of one plant you get to know inside out, fixed plant fitting suits you better than mobile plant. A mechanical fitting ticket is also one of the most portable trades around: manufacturing, food processing, power stations and water treatment all hire fitters.

Electrician: UEE30820, plus the mining extras

Mine electricians look after the processing plant, conveyors, pumps, substations, lighting towers, camps and, on some sites, high voltage machines. The qualification is the UEE30820 Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician. To get an unrestricted electrical licence in most states you must complete it as an apprenticeship (or through Trades Recognition Australia), then get licensed by your state electrical regulator.

Mining asks for more on top of your licence. The UEE30820 has elective units for hazardous areas (the UEEHA units, often called EEHA), covering things like explosion-protected equipment and inspections of hazardous area installations. If your employer works in gas, coal or fuel areas, ask to pick those electives, or plan to do them after your trade.

Queensland coal has hard rules. Under section 20 of the Coal Mining Safety and Health Regulation 2017 (current as at 1 September 2026), only a person with the recognised competency for repairing, overhauling and maintaining electrical equipment for explosive atmospheres can do electrical work in an explosion risk zone, work on explosion-protected electrical equipment at a surface mine, or electrical work in a surface mine area that a risk assessment shows has an explosion risk. Underground mobile plant has its own separate recognised competency. Coal sites also run high voltage mobile plant fed by trailing cables, and the site's electrical engineering manager controls who can work on what.

NSW coal and WA metals mines run under their own state laws and site rules. Expect site-specific HV switching authorisations, isolation procedures and inductions wherever you go. An electrical licence is still the most portable ticket on this list, which matters when commodity prices drop.

Instrumentation and control: UEE31225

Instrument techs keep the measuring and control side of a processing plant working: flow, level and pressure transmitters, analysers, valves, PLCs and control loops. It is fiddly, diagnostic work, and you spend a lot of time with a laptop and a calibrator.

The current qualification is the UEE31225 Certificate III in Instrumentation and Control, released in 2025 to replace UEE31220. Some providers were still delivering UEE31220 in 2026 during the changeover, so check which one your training provider enrols you in.

Here is the catch: the instrumentation qualification on its own carries no licence. A lot of mining employers want what is called an E&I tradie, someone who is both a licensed electrician and an instrument tech. TAFE Queensland, for example, offers a dual award of UEE30820 and UEE31225. If you can get a dual trade apprenticeship, it opens far more doors than instrumentation alone.

Auto electrician: AUR30320

Auto electricians on a mine work on the electrical side of mobile plant: wiring looms, starting and charging, lighting, sensors, cameras, radios and the monitoring and safety systems on big machines. The qualification is the AUR30320 Certificate III in Automotive Electrical Technology.

Newer fleets carry more electronics and automation, so diagnostics is a growing part of the job. The work is often field based alongside the diesel fitters. Dealers and miners both take auto electrical apprentices, though usually in smaller numbers than diesel fitters, so intakes can be more competitive.

Be clear on one thing: an auto electrician is not a licensed electrician. You cannot work on fixed 240 V or 415 V installations with an auto electrical ticket. If you want both worlds, you would need the UEE30820 as well.

Boilermaker and welder: MEM31925

Mines chew through steel. Boilermakers repair and build excavator buckets, truck trays, chutes, hoppers and liners, do hardfacing on wear parts, and handle structural repairs on plant. Shutdowns are a big part of the year, with lots of gouging, cutting and welding on heavy plate, often in confined spaces under hot work permits.

The current qualification is the MEM31925 Certificate III in Engineering - Fabrication Trade, which replaced MEM31922. It has Boilermaking and Welding specialisations and must be done through a training contract or trade recognition.

Plenty of mine boilermakers did their apprenticeship in a fabrication shop in town and moved to site once qualified. That is a solid path if you cannot land a mine apprenticeship straight away.

Other trades and tickets that get you on site

These trades get work around mines, but usually in smaller numbers, and often through contractors rather than the miner directly.

• •Lineworker (UET30621 Certificate III in ESI - Distribution Overhead): overhead powerlines feeding pits, pumps and camps. Most of this work goes through network companies and power contractors, so there are fewer direct mine apprenticeships.
• •Refrigeration and air conditioning (UEE32225 Certificate III in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration): camps, crib rooms, offices, cool rooms and kitchens. Remote camps rely on this gear working in 45 degree heat.
• •Plumber (CPC32420 Certificate III in Plumbing): accommodation villages, water supply and wastewater systems, usually through camp and facilities management contractors rather than the mine operator.
• •Rigging and scaffolding: these are high risk work licences, not apprenticeships. The classes run dogging (DG), basic, intermediate and advanced rigging (RB, RI, RA) and basic, intermediate and advanced scaffolding (SB, SI, SA). Shutdown crews need them, and plenty of fitters and boilermakers add dogging and rigging to their trade to get more shutdown work.

Where the work is, and who you would work for

Your trade choice plays out differently depending on where you are. Western Australia has Pilbara iron ore and Goldfields gold. Queensland has Bowen Basin coal plus metals in the north west. NSW has Hunter Valley coal and metals mines inland. SA and the NT have fewer, smaller operations. Coal and metals run under different safety laws in each state, so the same trade comes with different inductions and rules.

In Queensland coal you will need a Coal Mine Workers' Health Scheme medical before you start, and surface mines in Queensland expect a Standard 11 generic induction. Our guide to mine site medicals and inductions at Mine site medicals, drug tests and inductions: what to expect covers what each one involves.

Underground is its own world. Diesel fitters work on loaders and jumbos in tight spaces, electricians on underground power and explosion-protected gear in coal. It needs extra training and is not where most first year apprentices start.

• •Miner (owner operator): the big names. Fewer apprentice spots, very competitive, usually the best conditions.
• •Contractor: mining services and maintenance companies. More shutdown and project work, conditions vary by agreement.
• •OEM dealer: equipment dealers servicing mobile plant. Great training on one brand, often based in a regional town.
• •Group training organisation (GTO): you are employed by the GTO and placed with a host, sometimes on a mine. Ask exactly where you would be placed.
• •FIFO, DIDO or residential: plenty of mine apprentices live in a mining town or drive in from a regional centre rather than fly in. Many FIFO and site roles want you to be 18 or over, so check the ad. See FIFO mining life for apprentices: the honest pros and cons for the real story on rosters.

Pay: what you can and cannot compare

Most mining apprentices are paid under the company's enterprise agreement (EBA), not straight off an award. The Mining Industry Award 2020 and the Black Coal Mining Industry Award 2020 are the safety nets for mine operators, but if you are employed by a dealer, contractor or GTO a different award or agreement may apply. Pay on mine sites varies a lot between agreements, so the award tables on this site are only a floor. Ask for the EBA, read the apprentice rates and allowances, and check against the Fair Work Pay Calculator at https://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/.

What makes mine pay look big is usually allowances and hours, not the base rate. Site or remote allowances, shift and night loadings, overtime, longer rostered hours and FIFO travel arrangements all add up. Two jobs with the same base rate can look very different once the roster is factored in.

For context on qualified pay: Jobs and Skills Australia reports median weekly earnings in the mining industry of $2,832 for full-time employees, against $1,741 across all industries (ABS Characteristics of Employment, August 2025). That figure covers everyone working full time in mining, including engineers and managers. It is not a trade rate and it is not what apprentices earn.

How to choose, and where to go next

Pick the trade you would enjoy doing in town too. Mining goes through booms and busts, and commodity price falls have shut operations before. A trade you like and that works outside mining is your insurance.

If you cannot get a mine apprenticeship straight away, do your trade with a dealer, workshop or fabrication shop and move to site once qualified. Lots of mine tradies took that path. Read How to get a mining apprenticeship in Australia for how to get noticed, and Mining apprenticeship programs in Australia: who hires and when for the programs. For state specifics, see Apprenticeships in WA: incentives, fees and where to start, Apprenticeships in Queensland: incentives, free training and where to start and Apprenticeships in NSW: incentives, fee-free training and where to start.

• •You love big machines and being out in the pit: heavy duty diesel fitter. Start at Diesel Mechanic Apprentice Hub.
• •You like plant, precision and shutdown work: mechanical fitter. Start at Fitter and Turner Apprentice Hub.
• •You want the most portable licence: electrician, ideally with hazardous area units. Start at Electrical Apprentice Hub.
• •You like electronics and fault finding: instrumentation (aim for dual trade E&I) via Electrical Apprentice Hub, or auto electrical via Auto Electrician Apprentice Hub.
• •You like building and fixing things with steel: boilermaker. Start at Welding Apprentice Hub.
• •Powerlines, cooling or camp infrastructure: Electrical Lineworker Apprentice Hub, HVAC/R Apprentice Hub or Plumbing Apprentice Hub.